


Leave No Trace

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Episode: s02e15 Tales of Ba Sing Se, Father-Son Relationship, Ficlet, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Uncle-Nephew Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 16:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13127685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: Today he is a father, Dad, even mourner…not General Iroh…And yet he knows that to sit here, under this tree, with these items, in the middle of Ba Sing Se is a risk, could destroy their cover.Iroh, the moment after singingLeaves from the Vine.





	Leave No Trace

Today is about his son, only about _his son_ …remembering _his son_ , celebrating _his son_ , doing good for others in _his son’s_ honor. Today he is a father, Dad, even mourner…not General Iroh…

(Please, Agni, _anyone_ but General Iroh.)

And yet, however hard he tries to quiet that voice inside him, the military strategist knows that the portrait of his son is recognizable as a Fire Nation officer, if not Fire Nation royalty. Knows that lighting incense for the dead is a uniquely Fire Nation custom. Knows that to sit here, under this tree, with these items, in the middle of Ba Sing Se is a risk, could destroy his cover. 

And he _doesn’t care_ , doesn't _want_ to care—let the secret police come and drag him to the Palace, let the Earth King chop off his head in the middle of the Upper Ring and display it as warning on the Outer Wall, if it means he can sit here all night and sing to his son on his birthday, if it means he can let the incense burn for the full twenty-four hours that custom dictates they are meant to…

Except…Today, he is not merely _Dad;_ he is also _Uncle_. 

Zuko has a chance to build a life of peace in this city for the first and perhaps only time in his life…and if Iroh is discovered, Zuko inevitably will be too.

(They can chop off _his_ head, but Iroh will rage like the Dragon he is if anyone so much as attempts to chop a _hair_ from Zuko’s.)

Today cannot only be about his son; it needs must be also about his nephew.

(Lu Ten is gone; Zuko is here.)

And so there is no decision to make.

It’s far from the most painful thing Iroh has ever had to do, but he still sighs after he finishes singing to his son, his hands still shake as he picks up the incense, and his breath still quivers as he blows them out and bends away the smoke.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


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